The Girls Team
by Gossamer Glass Jellyfish
Summary: Kurenai is assigned to head a Genin team consisting of Sakura, Ino, and Hinata. She decides someone needs to stop dismissing those girls as simple boy-obsessed weaklings, and unlock their potential.
1. Chapter 1

Yuuhi Kurenai watched her new Genin students through the scrying crystal in the Hokage's office. Sakura and Ino were skeletally thin, breaking away temporarily from their fighting over one boy to beat the crap out of another. Hinata was in a large sweatshirt that self-consciously hid her form, watching the beating, looking torn but too timid to do anything about it.

Kurenai reflected on what the Hokage had told her about this team.

"It was Elder Koharu's idea. She argued that the girls' potential is being unrealized and that they need to be placed together and given a strong female mentor to change them early on in life. She, one of the first and oldest Konoha kunoichi herself, suggested the idea of an all-women team. It's your job to whip them into shape, Kurenai, should they pass the bell test."

Kurenai had volunteered to be the Jounin-sensei for the all-female Team Eight for two reasons. First, and less importantly, because she was a new young Jounin woman with something to prove and making a strong team out of these three dysfunctional girls would prove her mettle and her worth. Second, and more importantly, because she was a feminist with a natural fiery older-sister streak who wanted to support three growing kunoichi.

She hoped she was up to the challenge of making Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata, and Yamanaka Ino into strong ninja, strong women, and a strong team.

* * *

Iruka separated the girls from Naruto. Everyone took their seats and teams were announced. Ino and Sakura had both been hoping to be teamed with Sasuke, bickering over who would end up with him; Hinata hoped secretly to be teamed with Naruto.

None of them got what they wanted.

"Team Seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Inuzuka Kiba.

"Team Ten: Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Aburame Shino.

"Team Eight: Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, and Hyuuga Hinata."

All three girls looked horrified. The height of Ino and Sakura's fears was being teamed with each other, and Sakura and Ino's overbearing personalities frankly frightened Hinata. Also, none of them were with the boys they liked.

The minute team announcements had finished, Sakura, Ino, and Naruto all stood.

"Iruka-sensei, why do I have to be teamed with Ino-pig -?!" Sakura.

"Iruka-sensei, why do I have be teamed with Forehead Girl -?!" Ino.

"Iruka-sensei, why is a great ninja like me on a team with two losers like Sasuke and Kiba -?!" Naruto.

"Hey, you want to say that again, Uzumaki?! I'm not the one who failed every test the Academy ever gave to me except the really important one!" Kiba, who had also stood, Akamaru barking in agreement.

"Everyone sit down!" Iruka barked. The four sat slowly, reluctantly.

"Naruto, you're with Sasuke and Kiba because they got excellent grades and you got the lowest grades. The teams are formed to balance each other out."

"See? We're here so we can bail your sorry ass out on a mission!" Kiba crowed.

Naruto stood to storm over and punch Kiba, and Sakura pulled him irritably back down into his seat. "Stop being an idiot!" she snapped.

"... Sorry," Naruto muttered begrudgingly at last.

"Tch. Neither of you had better get in my way," said Sasuke contemptuously, and Kiba and Naruto glared at him.

"Sakura, Ino, you two and Hinata were specifically requested to form an all-woman team," said Iruka. "Your Jounin-sensei is a woman too."

"That's cool," Ino admitted, pained. "But… why those two women?"

Hinata, who took this personally, sank down, depressed.

"Hey," Sakura said, annoyed, "that's my line! Iruka-sensei, can't we request a new team?" she added despairingly.

"I'm sorry, everyone, Hokage-sama's decisions are final. Take a lunch break. Meet back here in one hour to meet your new Sensei."

* * *

The three girls met outside the Academy's main building.

"We are eating lunch together," said Ino bossily, "and we are going to go find and watch Sasuke-kun. And you two are going to follow what I say."

"I'm not following anything you say!" Sakura said heatedly. "And why do we have to watch Sasuke-kun? Why can't we just go up and talk to him?"

"You fool," said Ino contemptuously. "Of course Sasuke-kun is the type who would want to eat lunch alone. Don't you know anything about him? I bet you don't even know how to track him."

Sakura fell silent begrudgingly, glaring.

"That's what I thought." Ino smirked.

"U-umm… I would like to watch Naruto-kun." They looked around in surprise. Hinata had spoken shyly for the first time.

Sakura and Ino turned canny. "Just because you like Naruto, doesn't mean we have to watch him."

"How is that any different from what you two are doing?!" Hinata protested, her eyes wide.

"Well - well - that's - completely different -" Ino sputtered.

"Why do you even like him, anyway?" said Sakura curiously, frowning. "He's so obnoxious."

"He's that way to be funny, and confident, and because he's hurting inside," said Hinata firmly. "What about Sasuke? He's cold and indifferent; he doesn't even seem to like you."

"Sasuke-kun is just shy!" said Sakura fiercely. "He's quiet, talented, and sensitive!"

"You're so wrong, Forehead Girl!" Ino snapped. "As always! Sasuke-kun is arrogant and hot-tempered; he needs a big personality to deal with him!"

"What do you know, Ino-pig?!"

"I still want to watch Naruto-kun -" Hinata began.

"Naruto's an idiot!" Sakura shouted to the skies. Hinata, angry but cowed into silence, said nothing.

"Finally, something we can agree on," said Ino contemptuously. Hinata's fists were clenched, her words choking her throat and refusing to come out.

Naruto, who had just come up under a Transformation in Sasuke's guise, heard only the last two lines, and Hinata's silence. Well. That answered that question. He'd been wondering what Sakura really thought of him before they were separated forever, and he'd gotten his answer. He slumped and trudged off, depressed.

The argument continued.

"Hinata, Naruto would walk all over you!"

"Naruto-kun would never do that! He needs someone shy to balance him out! And Sasuke would never like you, Ino, because you throw yourself at him!"

"Ha! She's right, Ino-pig."

"And what about you, Forehead Girl? Have you ever gotten any reaction from Sasuke at all? No! Because you're too girlish, ugly, and book-obsessed!"

Sasuke had stalked up. "Where is Naruto?"

They all whirled around. "Sasuke-kun!" Ino and Sakura cried, delighted. Ino grabbed Sasuke's arm and rubbed herself up against him.

Sakura said fiercely, "Forget about Naruto! All he ever does is pick fights with you. He's annoying. And it's because he has no parents - no one to teach him right from wrong. You do know he's an orphan, right? He's so lucky. No parents to scold him -"

"I know," Ino sighed, sympathizing with Sakura.

"I - I am better than all of you," Hinata forced out angrily, quietly, her fists still clenched in passive aggression.

"Hey! You want to say that again?" Ino snapped. "What makes you better than us -?"

"You're all equally worthless," said Sasuke coldly, bitingly. They all whirled around to look at him, gasping. Sasuke was glaring, his face twisted in hatred, and he let it all out at once:

"Ino. You think you're better than everybody. You're obsessed with how many people like you. You touch me constantly even though you know I don't like it. You make fun of your own best friend because the two of you like the same boy. You're bossy but you barely have any abilities to back it up. You're a spoiled brat.

"Sakura. You're needlessly violent, and cruel to everyone except me. You call your best friend a pig because the two of you like the same boy. You're narrow minded and judgmental. You have no skills whatsoever. You think being an orphan is fun? Would you like to try being one? Because I can tell you right now, the paralyzing loneliness is a lot worse than having your parents be angry with you. Did you just really call an orphan lucky because he has dead parents? Do you even think before words come out of your mouth? You're supposed to be so brilliant, but it never shows in your actions at all.

"And Hinata. Privately you think you're better than the other two, but you're not. You have a crush, but you never step in to talk to him or defend him from others in anyway. Instead, you follow him around, essentially stalking him, hoping he'll notice you. All three of you, you're complete stalkers. You're obsessed with people you don't even know. Hinata, you're timid and you give up too easily. That's your real problem - it's not physical weakness at all. And let me divest you of one illusion right now: self pity and depression are not dramatic and flattering. Not at all. You take the moral high horse in this weird, passive aggressive way, but are you really any better than the other two?"

All three girls had fallen silent, stunned.

"Your team is weak and dysfunctional and thank God I'm not on it." The scathing rant was finished. Sasuke stalked away darkly.

It took a while for any of the girls to speak.

"... He's right," Hinata whispered in realization.

Sakura smiled sadly. "Yeah," she said, pain in her voice, "he is. Maybe… maybe we could try to be nicer from now on?"

Ino nodded, looking for once downcast and somber. "I… I don't know how to be nice," she admitted. "But I guess I'm willing to give it a shot."

"Come on," said Sakura, depressed. "We'd better go back to the Academy. We have to meet our Sensei."

They trudged back toward the Academy in defeated silence.

* * *

Yuuhi Kurenai was a tall, curvy, beautiful woman with long black curls and crimson eyes. She wore a wrap dress. She was everything a kunoichi was supposed to be - beautiful, glamorous, and strong.

She looked them over critically, noticing their depression. She had watched Sasuke's rant at them in the Hokage's office through the scrying crystal before walking over to the Academy, but for now she said nothing.

"You're Team Eight?" she said, meeting them through the crowds of students being introduced to Jounin in the classroom. "My name is Yuuhi Kurenai, and I'm your new Sensei. Follow me."

She led them out of the classroom and to a quiet park. They sat in a circle underneath a tree, she on an equal level with them.

"We start out by introducing ourselves," Kurenai said. "For example. My name is Yuuhi Kurenai. I'm a genjutsu illusions specialist. My hobbies are making my own beer, wine tasting, and gardening in my back garden. I'm a new young Jounin woman, so my dream is to prove myself as a powerful Jounin. Now it's your turn."

She looked around at them all.

"My name is Haruno Sakura! I love Uchiha Sasuke, and I hate Ino-pig!"

"Oh yeah? Well my name is Yamanaka Ino! I love Uchiha Sasuke even more, and I hate Forehead Girl!"

Ino and Sakura began bickering.

Hinata looked like she slowly wanted to sink into a hole in the ground. "M-my name is Hyuuga Hinata… I-I have a crush on Uzumaki Naruto…" She could barely be heard over all the shouting.

Kurenai sighed. This was going to take a lot of work.

"Silence!" she said at last, and everything fell quiet. "Now, there are actually two tests required to pass into Genin. I administer the second one. It will take place tomorrow at 8 AM, training field forty-two, and it will be a kind of survival training."

Ino raised her hand. "What if we don't pass?"

"You will either be sent into the reserves, or back to the Academy," said Kurenai evenly.

Sakura, Hinata, and Ino looked horrified.

Kurenai stood. "So meet me tomorrow at 8 AM, training field forty-two, with all your weaponry and ninja supplies. Understand? Oh, and don't eat." Her eyes became mysterious and she began disappearing in a swirl of leaves in a genjutsu. "You'll only throw up if you do."

Her voice echoed toward them as she disappeared. The girls swallowed, staring straight ahead of themselves, paling.

There was nothing else for it. They would have to try their best.

* * *

They met at 8 AM. Kurenai was already waiting for them. The training field was as most Konoha training fields were: a grass field, a forest, a bubbling brook, and three posts in the center of the field.

Kurenai held up two silver bells. "Your objective is to take these bells back from me by force," she said. "Getting a bell means one passes into Genin."

Sakura raised her hand curiously. "But there are only two bells."

"Exactly. One of you will have to go back to the Academy. That person will be tied to the center post, and while everyone else has lunch they will eat in front of that person."

Their stomachs grumbled. So that was why she'd said not to eat breakfast.

"Hey! This isn't fair! Without food we're not fighting at full capacity!" Ino protested.

"When," said Kurenai, "did I ever say the test into Genin was fair?"

They fell silent. Hinata was sick with fear. She'd be the one sent back to the Academy. She just knew it. And her father would be even more disappointed in her.

"Ready… begin!" Kurenai waved a hand, and they all leaped off into the trees and shrubbery to hide.

* * *

Sakura and Ino both came to the same conclusion: If there could only be two people on the team, they wanted to be with Hinata. Anything was better than their arch rival.

So they both found Hinata amid the leaves - and found the other person already there. Ino and Sakura glared at one another - and then they both pounced on an unsuspecting Hinata out there in the forest. Hinata was quite alarmed.

"Hinata! Team up with me! I'll be your best friend!"

"No, team up with me! I'll make you stronger!"

Hinata was overwhelmed. "Look," she said, pained, "we all may be weak, but I'm the weakest person on this team." They fell silent, staring at her. "I'll be the one who gets left behind. I was never that good anyway. The three of us should fight together - I'll help you out."

"How do we know to trust you?" said Ino suspiciously.

"You heard Sasuke." Hinata smiled sadly, self deprecatingly. "I'm timid and I have unappealing depression and self pity."

Sakura and Ino looked at each other across the distance for a moment - and then Sakura nodded. "Alright," she said quietly. "Let's do this."

* * *

They already knew one critical detail: Kurenai specialized in illusions.

So they all hid, and Hinata used her Byakugan eyes to divine the real Kurenai once she'd found them. "Fake Kurenai is there," she whispered to Sakura, pointing at the Kurenai that Sakura could see walking into the clearing. "Real Kurenai is there." She pointed at a place in the underbrush around the clearing.

Kurenai was using a genjutsu illusion to lure them out of hiding. Well it wouldn't work.

"Got it," said Sakura, smirking craftily, and she rung her clever trap by a rope through the trees until it was about to reach the real Kurenai's foot. The illusion broke, Kurenai jumped back and avoided the trap - but she'd fallen right into Hinata, who had snuck around from behind.

Hinata flashed her hands out in Jyuuken moves, and Kurenai dodged and dodged. She tried using plant-like illusions to fake Hinata out, but Hinata saw right through them and continued attacking the real Kurenai. Hinata wasn't very fast, so Kurenai wasn't hurt, but she moved farther and farther back, trying to avoid the deadly Jyuuken blows - and Sakura's trap tried to ensnare her again!

She was trapped in one place. And then it was Ino's turn. Sakura and Hinata had afforded her a straight shot.

"Mind Body Switch!" Her mind jumped across the distance to Kurenai's body, and took it over. Ino collapsed, Kurenai slumped - and then straightened, smirking in an all-too-Ino way.

"Here ya go," said Ino as Kurenai, taking the bells from her hip and tossing one to Sakura and the other to Hinata.

They'd worked together, using the value of being underestimated, to get the bells.

Ino retreated back into her own body, and the three girls tensed cautiously, surrounding Kurenai. Kurenai had just awoken.

"... So," said Kurenai, "you three used teamwork to get the bells. Now who wants to be sent back to the Academy?" Her expression was veiled.

Hinata swallowed, and began to raise her hand. "I-I…"

And Sakura and Ino suddenly realized they couldn't do it. They leaped in front of a surprised Hinata defensively.

"Sensei, Hinata can't go back!" said Sakura.

"Yeah! She did too much of the work!" Ino protested.

"So which one of you is going back?" Kurenai asked Ino and Sakura.

They glared at each other - then looked at Kurenai. "No one's leaving!" they snapped. "We all stay!"

"You all stay, huh?" Kurenai mused.

"It would be stupid and arbitrary to send someone back when we all did the work," said Sakura, crossing her arms.

"Exactly!" said Ino. "We used Hinata's Byakugan and Jyuuken, my Mind Body Switch, and Sakura's intelligence and craftiness!"

"Sensei… I'm with them," said Hinata at last. "We can't leave anyone behind."

Kurenai paused - and began laughing softly.

"Sensei? What's so funny?" said Sakura, bemused.

"Congratulations," said Kurenai, smiling. "You all pass into Genin. The test was a ruse, to see if you could put aside your differences and work together. Teamwork was the point of this exercise, and it is the single most important aspect of being a Konoha ninja. Individual abilities are important, but good teamwork is always more important. Remember that."

"Wait… so… because we worked together… we all pass?" said Ino, stunned.

"That's right," said Kurenai cheerfully. "Congratulations. You're all Genin."

Sakura began leaping into the air and cheering. Ino shouted, "Hell yes!" and pumped her fists. Hinata smiled in disbelief, positively beaming.

"Now, let's go eat lunch, all four of us," said Kurenai. "And then, Team Eight -" Her eyes gleamed. "The training begins. We have work to do."

The girls swallowed.


	2. Chapter 2

Kurenai began with, "I'm going to go through a series of exercises with you, to help you achieve your dreams. I take it your dreams are to find love with your respective boys, yes?"

The girls blushed, but nodded.

"Well then, here's an exercise I want you to do. Both of your crushes passed into Genin - Teams Seven and Ten were the only two other teams to pass into Genin. Talk to the boy you like under a Transformation technique, under the guise of someone they would trust - say, Iruka-sensei from the Academy. And ask the boy what he really thinks of you. This should decide how you respond from there."

Kurenai's secret aim was to show them who the boys really were, and what they really thought of the girls. But she did not reveal this.

But the girls brightened. "This is the best training ever!" said Ino.

* * *

Ino approached Sasuke, during one of his walks, as Iruka. This was their conversation:

"Sasuke, I was wondering," said Iruka. "Ino's always really liked you. What do you think of her?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, nonplussed. "I think she's annoying," he said. "I don't like her at all. She doesn't have a chance with me in a million years. She's weak, spoiled, bratty, bossy, and stupid. She's just some fangirl stalker."

This hurt more than words could express.

"But she sees you as this sort of arrogant, hot-tempered type, and she really admires that," Iruka tried. "What do you think of that?"

"I think Ino doesn't know me at all. She sees in me what she wants to see," said Sasuke simply.

It left Ino with a lot to think about.

* * *

Next Sakura approached Sasuke as Iruka, during one of his lunch breaks from training.

"Sasuke, I know we've talked about Ino. What about Sakura?" he said. "She's the only other one of your fangirls to pass into Genin. Kurenai told me so. Any… any romance in the works there?"

Sasuke frowned. "No way," he said, "and I don't appreciate the interference into my personal life."

"Well - well, I was just -"

"Look," said Sasuke, "Sakura is just as annoying as Ino. She's narrow-minded, violent, and intolerant. She also has no skills whatsoever. Like Ino, she sees in me what she wants to see."

"... Oh," said Sakura as Iruka softly, depressed.

* * *

Hinata approached Naruto as Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei! What's up!" said Naruto, grinning, just outside his apartment.

Hinata as Iruka smiled, hope filling her heart. "Hi, Naruto. I was just wondering. Remember your classmate Hinata? What do you think of her?"

"Hinata… doesn't ring a bell…" Naruto's face scrunched up thoughtfully.

"You - you saved her from some bullies once," Hinata as Iruka forced out.

"Oh, yeah. The weird, quiet girl. Yeah, I think she should be louder if she wants people to notice her. And to be honest, I've never seen her have any skills."

"So… you don't like her?"

"I've never really paid any attention to her," Naruto admitted honestly.

"Ah… Thank you." Hinata was heartbroken. "That's all I needed to know."

* * *

The girls all sat, depressed, next to Kurenai at an ice cream parlor.

"So none of them like you, none of them recognize you, and now that you're out of the Academy it will pretty much stay that way," Kurenai summarized.

"Yeah," Ino muttered. "That's the basic gist. They think we're weak." She made a face.

"We are weak," said Sakura tearfully. "What do we do?" Her girlish dreams of seduction and love had been shattered.

Hinata was depressed. "Maybe we just give up."

"Look, girls," said Kurenai. "For the right guy, you won't have to be someone you're not or stalk them or anything like that. They'll appreciate you for who you are. I don't think Naruto and Sasuke are the right guys for you.

"But couldn't they have a point, in a way? Couldn't Hinata be less timid, and Sakura and Ino be less violent and judgmental?"

"... Yes," the girls admitted at last.

"So there you have it. Girls, a boy not liking you is not the end of the world. Never let a boy decide your identity and your sense of self worth. Be your own person, and let a boy add to the joy that is already in your life. Make sure he treats you right, and appreciates you as you are, and that he simply adds to you as a person.

"It goes back to the three ninja vices: never let troublesome alcohol, money, or men control you."

"So what do we do about how weak we are?"

Kurenai smirked. "You train. There is strength hidden inside all of you. This is your time to bring it out. Prove those boys wrong. Show them your strength."

Hinata, Sakura, and Ino became determined. They now had a goal, something to prove, just like Kurenai herself. "Yes, Sensei."

So they had two goals: To be better, nicer people, and to be stronger ninja.

* * *

"Hinata and Ino are to request private training from their fathers," said Kurenai, "and I will train Sakura in the ways of genjutsu. Here is the plan:

"You will do an intensive six-week training: one new technique per week. You are to report in to your team with your new technique at the end of the week. You are to do this training in the mornings, then meet with us, your team, in the afternoons."

So Kurenai met with Sakura, while Ino and Hinata went to their fathers. Inoichi was happy to train Ino at her first word, glad his daughter was finally taking an interest in techniques.

Hiashi was the real problem.

"Father, I would like private training." Hinata knelt and bowed before her father in his office.

Hiashi considered her. "You are weak, Hinata, and no longer clan heiress," he said. "What makes you think you deserve such training?"

"Father, I am still a main family member. And I now have something to prove." Hinata looked up determinedly. "I want to change. To become less timid. Stronger.

"And Kurenai-sensei says you are the first key to that."

"... Very well," said Hiashi. "We will see how you do."

Each group of trainers came up with a plan.

In Hinata's first week, her Byakugan, which she'd already been working on for years, would be intensively improved, to the point where she could sort out a lie just by looking into the person's face. In Hinata's second week, her Jyuuken, which she had already been working on for years, would be built upon - her Gentle Fist style would involve deceptively gentle, graceful taps and touches that inflicted extensive damage, and she would also learn Jyuuken-based ninjutsu disruption and healing. In her third week, she would learn Divine Sixty-Four Strikes. In her fourth week, she would learn how to emanate her chakra from all tenketsu at once, and from select bodily tenketsu. In her fifth week, she would learn Kaiten, a ballerina twirl creating a swirling dome shield of chakra. In her sixth week, she would learn One Body Blow, which could also break through chakra prisons.

In Ino's first week, she would focus on mastering Mind Body Switch, which she'd already been working on for years. In her second week, she would learn Mind Clone Switch, a multiple person version of Mind Body Switch that did not require a straight line. In her third week, she would learn Mind Body Disturbance, or body control, as if she was a spider with bodies on her strings. In her fourth week, she would learn Mind Body Reading, or mind reading as long as she could look the other person in the eye. In her fifth week, she would learn Mind Body Transmission Technique, or sensing other minds in her area, telepathically communicating with them and setting up telepathic communication links. In her sixth week, she would learn Mind Body Attack, or psychic attacks, which also required eye contact.

In Sakura's first week, she would focus on recognizing and breaking out of genjutsu. In her second week, she would learn disguising genjutsu - all manner of sensory mirages - while the real attack happened elsewhere. In her third week, she would work on putting the cerebral nervous system to sleep and inflicting direct damage to it. In her fourth week, she would learn binding genjutsu and limb and head control. In her fifth week, she would learn field wide and layered genjutsu. In her sixth week, she would master using genjutsu illusions to have enemies kill each other.

It sounded hard and intensive, and it was, but their teachers were all amazed by the fervency with which the girls threw themselves into their training. They ate up each technique, mastering them faster and faster. The girls forgot their heartbreak by throwing themselves into training. Proving people wrong provided added incentive.

* * *

"As I am a genjutsu specialist, you will all go through training in genjutsu breaking and training in the three chakra control exercises," said Kurenai during their first afternoon sessions. "Genjutsu breaking involves noticing wrong details in the surrounding environment and disrupting your chakra to break out of the illusion. The three chakra control exercises are tree climbing, water walking, and leaf bending."

The girls mastered all these techniques in quick succession. They were found to be blessed with naturally good chakra control, and also with remarkable intelligence and observational skills. So Kurenai taught them how to channel chakra into their limbs to make themselves faster and stronger, and then told them to practice doing those chakra control exercises over and over again to improve their poor chakra stamina.

And so the girls climbed trees and ran across water and bent leaves - over and over and over again.

As they were all lying at the bottom of their respective trees, training, exhausted, breathing hard and beaten up, one afternoon, Ino decided to speak.

Everything had started out very guarded and argumentative when training had begun. But slowly, the girls began to become more supportive of one another, the competition becoming playful and teasing. In their obsession with boys, they'd forgotten how good it felt to have female friends.

"... I'm sorry," Ino told Sakura. "I'm sorry we stopped being friends over some stupid guy."

"So am I," Sakura admitted, sitting up. "But hey. We're friends again now, yes?"

Ino sat up too. "Yeah!" she said, grinning. Sakura smiled.

"... I'm the weakest of everyone," Hinata whispered.

"No, you're not!" said Sakura and Ino immediately.

"Hinata, listen," said Ino intently. "You're a good, self sacrificing, brave person. And look how much you've improved! Sasuke-bastard was right about one thing: the only things holding you back are the voice in your head telling you that you suck, and your own timidity."

Hinata sat up. "I just don't like training because I don't like hurting my friends and family," she admitted.

"But Hinata, you're not hurting them," said Sakura, caught off guard. "When you fight hard against your friends and family, you're helping them improve so that they don't die out there in the field."

"... I hadn't thought of it that way," said Hinata in surprise.

"Always fight your hardest against your friends," said Ino firmly, nodding. "Either someone's trying to kill you, or you're actually saving them.

"You rock, Hinata. Never forget it."

"She's right, and I never thought I'd say that," said Sakura, smiling, putting a hand on Hinata's shoulder. Hinata smiled back. It was different, coming from a student, than it would have been coming from a Sensei.

Kurenai watched them, hidden in the trees, and she smiled.

Sakura, Hinata, and Ino slowly realized over time, becoming braver and stronger and supporting and cheering for each other… they realized being kind, brave, and supportive was actually better than they'd thought it would be. They began to feel embarrassment toward their past selves.

"Never feel ashamed," said Kurenai. "Your past helped make you the person you are today. Just work on becoming better from now on."

Not obsessing over boys - in a strange way, it had actually freed them. They became fiery, determined, and close friends.

* * *

Kurenai then started them in psychology and strategy exercises. She would give them written tests, or throw them into situations, and make them think them out. Slowly, they began using their intelligence in new and creative ways in varying situations.

She put them through survival training, throwing them into dangerous places, and making them get grimy, dirty, and angry, surviving and making their way out of them.

And she put them through countless teamwork and unit cohesion exercises, so they could fight together flawlessly like a well-oiled machine out in the field.

They also started D rank missions: gardening, babysitting, buying groceries, finding lost pets, fixing old buildings. Kurenai told them to focus on teamwork - on getting things done faster as a team. "These missions are meant to get you used to teamwork on missions," she said. So the girls went in with that in mind.

They alternated days: some afternoons they did training, others they did D ranks.

Meanwhile, taking on an older sister figure, Kurenai took them out in the evenings on shopping sprees, to concerts, to slumber parties, to picnics, to hikes, and to get coffee. They took countless team pictures together at various fun events, all of them beaming.

Kurenai also helped them find hobbies, and their favorite books, movies, and music. She encouraged healthy hobbies: creative, fun hobbies, which made them think and create and did not involve bad habits or vices.

Hinata loved mysteries in novels and movies, and jazz and blues music. Her hobbies turned out to be crafts such as flower pressing, sewing and embroidery, baking, and jewelry making.

Ino loved horror in novels and movies, and punk and electro-punk music. Her hobbies turned out to be painting and charcoal drawing, and partner dancing.

Sakura loved social dramas in novels and movies, and pop and hip hop music. Her hobbies turned out to be longer form poetry, and puzzles - such as crossword and sudoku, solitaire, and physical puzzles.

The girls found out about each other on a personal as well as training-related level. They also started using social media.

Kurenai also helped them to come to terms with death in Zen Buddhism - from reincarnation and enlightenment, to morality through the Eightfold Path, to moral retribution through karma, to once-a-week meditation. She taught them how to meditate.

And she taught them about sexism and feminism, in particular body positivity. She even got Sakura and Ino to stop dieting and start loving their bodies, and Hinata to wear clothing that showed off more of her body - not super revealing clothing, but clothing that didn't feel it had to self consciously hide so much.

She taught them about face shapes, body shapes, and complexion seasons in relation to fashion, and took them all out shopping for a new look. They tied their hitai-ate around their necks as one, a symbol of their closeness, and each formed a new appearance.

Sakura was a Rectangle Spring, with pink hair and bright green eyes, and a heart shaped face. Ino was a Pear Summer, with ash blonde hair and pupil-less vivid blue eyes, and an oval shaped face. Hinata was an Hourglass Winter, with blue-black hair and pupil-less silvery-violet eyes, and a circle shaped face. So their dressing and hairstyles, whether in kimono or in clothes, should always be tailored based on those specifications.

Hinata wore a bright burgundy flowing dress that banded at the waist. She cut most of her hair off, creating short, bouncy curls.

Ino wore a soft violet structured shirtdress with sleeves. Her hair was in a long side-sweep.

Sakura wore a medium turquoise dropped waist dress. She cut all her hair off in a pixie haircut, with bangs to hide her wide forehead.

* * *

By the end of the six weeks, Hinata, Sakura, and Ino had all improved significantly.

Hinata faced Hanabi on the Hyuuga clan sparring mat and defeated her easily, even showing Hanabi what she'd done wrong and how to improve. She then faced Neji on the mat, and they went hard and fast, toe to toe, until after seven minutes Hiashi finally had to call an end to the fight.

That hardness in her eyes - that fast, graceful confidence - Hiashi had never seen it in that girl before.

"Hinata," he intoned, "you have won back your title of clan heiress. You are now fit to be my heir. Congratulations."

Hinata got a little choked up and bowed low. "Thank you, Otou-sama," she forced out. Hanabi looked surprised, Neji bewildered and infuriated.

As she walked out of the Hyuuga clan sparring room, Neji demanded, "How? How did you do that when people can't change?!"

She leaned closer and whispered, so that only he could hear her, "People can change, Neji-nii-san. And I will prove it to you by abolishing cursed seal practices as clan head."

Neji stood there, stunned, as Hinata walked calmly from the room.

* * *

Ino was given her ear piercing in a ceremony from her father, a celebration of her as a true Yamanaka.

"You are my equal now," said Inoichi, approval, pride, and love in his eyes. He clasped Ino on the shoulders as Ino's mother looked on, smiling. "I am so proud of you."

Ino smiled and went in for a hug.

* * *

"You have done well, Sakura," said Kurenai at the end of the six weeks. "I am proud and satisfied to have a successful genjutsu pupil."

Sakura beamed with pride.

She went home to her parents, who admitted, "We are first generation ninja Chuunin. You have grown far beyond us."

Sakura allowed herself to feel with pride like, for the first time in her life, she was fiery and strong. For the right reasons.

* * *

Hinata, Sakura, and Ino sparred hard and fast together out in the training fields many an afternoon. They had been doing this, helping each other improve, since the beginning. Ino improved their knowledge of ninjutsu, Sakura of genjutsu, and Hinata of taijutsu.

With their physical and strategic abilities and good mindset, their fights quickly became blurs of speed and fast-paced strategy, high levels of ability. When they went out as a team, they fought and survived or did missions perfectly alongside one another, guessing each other's moves almost instinctively.

They were also friends.

* * *

They finished, as they started, with boys.

"I want a funny, confident boy who is social, hot tempered, and a bit unconventional, who can support me and make me feel better," said Hinata, as they all sat in a circle one day.

"I want a quiet, talented, reserved boy," said Sakura.

"And I want arrogance and a reckless temper - someone who can match me and deal with me - with a good heart underneath it," said Ino.

"You will find someone," Kurenai promised them. "Each of you will."

"I feel like I've gotten over my crush," Sakura admitted, and Ino and Hinata nodded.

"Us too."

It was weird - it had only been seven weeks, but it felt a lot longer. It was like they were completely different people. And they realized - they liked who they'd become.

Kurenai smiled. "I am proud of this team," he said. "And I want to show you off. I'll have to ask your parents' permission, but if they say yes… We will be the first rookie Genin team to request a C rank."

The girls brightened, thrilled. They, too, wanted to show off.

* * *

Author's Notes:

I have a playlist I listen to when writing for this team:

"6 Inch" by Beyonce

"Daddy Lessons" by Beyonce

"My Leftovers" by Porcelain Black

"Do It Like A Dude" by Jessie J

"Whistle" by Blackpink

"Boombayah" by Blackpink

"One Woman Army" by Porcelain Black


End file.
